Available:*
Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Hurricane Public Library | ULL | Juvenile | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A Wrinkle in Time meets Stranger Things in an out-of-this-world fast-paced middle grade story about a sister and her special little brother fighting to save the world from an interdimensional catastrophe.
Mary Day's life has always been different, because her little brother, Albie, is different. He doesn't speak, but he can communicate with Mary via mental telepathy, sending her--and her alone--"mind memos." To Albie, Mary is Pearl, the person he holds most precious. Then, one snowy day, Albie transmits an alarming two-word message: Bad order . Soon after, Mary and her best friend, Brit, discover a mysterious red mist in the woods that seems to draw them in . . . and turn all their feelings negative. A visit from three extraterrestrials (hilariously trying to pass as human) reveals the truth: there's a disastrous leak in the dimensional universe--and if Albie can't repair it, angry, evil thoughts will overtake the entire population. Can Mary, Brit, Brit's brother Lars, and Albie save the world? And will Mary finally realize that she, like Albie, has something special inside herself?
Author Notes
B. B. Ullman is the author of The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood and Whistle Bright Magic, a Nutfolk Tale (both HarperCollins). She lives in Western Washington State.
Reviews (3)
Horn Book Review
Originally sent to Earth to observe and gather data, a trio of extraterrestrial smart-mass-holograph-research-units (SMHRs) discovers an interdimensional tear that allows negative energy into our world. Overstepping their mission, the SMHRs go off-script and decide to intervene by erasing this bad order and restoring the natural good order to Earth. Ill-equipped to fix this situationbecause they have no consciousnessthey recruit four youngsters to save the planet: Albert, the youngest, who, when in utero, encountered the dimension that contains all positive and negative thoughts and does not speak; his compassionate sister, Mary, with whom he communicates telepathically; Marys clever best friend, Brit; and Brits brave older brother. The emphasis here is on solving the problem rather than detailing the grisly consequences of it, which include paralyzing mass pessimism and uncontrolled violence spread through a red mist. Humor, particularly surrounding the SMHRs appearance (their attempts to take human form are sloppily executed), breaks the tension, while short chapters with exciting cliffhangers propel the plot at a quick pace. betty carter (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A group of kids attempts to save the Earth from rampant negativity. Mary, 13, considers herself average at best. But to her little brother, Albert, she's Pearl: the one person who can understand the "memos" he sends via mental telepathy. Their father disappeared when Albert was a baby, leaving the siblings with only Ma and Meemaw. One snowy day, Mary receives a startling memo from Albert about an ominous red mist: "bad order." The mist's presence plagues humans and animals alike with negative thoughts. Mary, Albert, and their friends Brit and Lars are the only ones who seem to notice. Rather like Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin before them, the heroes collaborate with a trio of human-disguised aliens (or, rather, "smart-mass-holograph-research units") to restore (good) order. But can they successfully patch a rip between the dimensions? Ullman's quick pace and atmospheric worldbuilding are, unfortunately, overshadowed by a derivative plot. The buffoonish aliensnamed Commodore, Med Tech Tek, and Citizen Ladyprovide some mitigating comic relief. Eccentricities such as nonverbal communication, picky eating, and a sorting game he plays with dust particles suggest that Albert is on the autism spectrum. Conflated with his telepathic abilities, however, these details exemplify the problematic magical-disability trope. The cast defaults white.Skip and reread A Wrinkle in Time instead. (Science fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When 13-year-old Mary and her best friend, Brit, discover a mysterious red mist in the woods that overwhelms those nearby with negative thoughts, they'll need the help of Brit's older brother, Lars; Mary's younger brother, Albie; and three poorly disguised aliens to save their town and maybe the world from the interdimensional tear. Ultimately, their best weapon against the darkness is the light within themselves, and it's their everyday superpowers being brave, clever, and kind that save the day. The ridiculous aliens are a humorous highlight, but Albie's disability-based superpower is a low. Though Mary and her brother share a sweet relationship, his autism is explained as the result of a failed experiment before his birth that gave him the ability to telepathically communicate with his sister and close the tear in the universe their scientist father opened before his (presumed) death. Fans of A Wrinkle in Time will note, not happily, the many similarities to the classic in Ullman's (The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood, 2006) latest, but it might be a good fit for reluctant readers with its quick pacing, silly characters, and feel-good message.--Eleanor Roth Copyright 2019 Booklist
